Turning PHP Scripts Into Executables: PHP Apollo
PHP Apollo is a free command-line tool that converts a PHP script into an executable, as a compiler can do (but this is not a PHP compiler). The executable may works on any computer without the need to install PHP. A part of the interpreter is already included into the executable to run your PHP code.
License
Freeware.
Use and distribute it freely, but don't remove the copyright.
Limitations
- Include the stuff for an old version of PHP. Newer version is planned.
- Useful for standalone scripts, not for web pages.
- It is better if the release of the generated executable uses an installer,
for now.
How it works?
The PHP code is included into a standard executable file and the PHP interpreter
is bring to interpret the code inside the executable file. The PHP necessary
stuff is included also.
The PHP code is not compiled into binary and it cannot be entirely, since
the most part of a php program is evaluated at runtime and cannot be compiled.
A PHP compiler must include a kind of interpreter to process variables at
runtime. The real advantage of a PHP compiler is to protect the code from
copy.
PHP Apollo and Scriptol
Scriptol C++ compiles actually a Scriptol source in binary. Your scripts may be interpreted or compiled, as Scriptol has typed variable. The execution speed is increased greatly.
For dynamic variables, they have to be interpreted at runtime, with a kind of embedded interpreter, the process time is the same as for the interpreter.
Read the README file included in the archive for more infos.